Ennis brings back a little of the series’s jovial spirit (jovial in a disturbed sense, of course), but not much of it.

He splits the issue between the Boys as they recover from the events of the previous issue and the evil company guys. The issue starts with an entirely unexpected, awful moment, but Ennis eases his way into it; he removes the shock value.

But he does get that shock value for the finish. There’s a lot of possible foreshadowing, a bit with Hughie’s emotional trauma; Mother’s Milk has the best scene in the issue. Until the shock finish, Butcher’s got about the weakest. Ennis gives Butcher a functional subplot, while everyone else just gets some time and space.

The end’s a surprise and a scary one.

It’s a fine issue; Ennis smartly gives the series a breather. Robertson handles the seven or eight changes in tone quite well.

CREDITS

Rodeo Fuck; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Darick Robertson; colorist, Tony Avina; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

I think I reread the finish to this issue five times. You want to go through and pick out the people dying so you can enjoy it.

Ennis never did find a story for this arc. It’s seven issues to have a brief conversation between Butcher and the evil corporate. The whole G-Men thing is something of a red herring; Ennis even finds a way to make the reader feel bad for enjoying it.

His ability to suck the humor out of the situation–and even the memory of the previous issues’ humor–is astounding.

Robertson’s art is great. He’s got a big sequence at the end, but the whole issue is a very difficult talking heads scene. He nails it.

There’s not much to say… It’s an excellently produced comic book; Ennis and Robertson know what they’re doing. The Boys has been serious before, but never this serious.

CREDITS

We Gotta Go Now, Conclusion; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Darick Robertson; colorist, Tony Avina; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

Yeah, once again… not entirely sure why Ennis is dragging out this arc. Mother’s Milk’s investigation is downright interesting–the G-Men kidnap kids and shoot them up with the compound to turn them into G-kids or whatever–but there’s nothing else in the issue.

Butcher and Hughie both have Saint Patrick’s Day adventures. Hughie’s with the G-Wiz guys for a while; he comes up with an interesting explanation for their behavior. Ennis is branching out from X-Men jokes this issue, really considering things, but it’s unclear why. The G-Men seem like an aside.

Butcher’s Saint Patrick’s Day–Hughie eventually joins him–is basically jokes about people who get hammered on Saint Patrick’s Day. Then, later on, Ennis has some observations on American ethnic identity. It’s interesting stuff to talk about… in a bar maybe, but not necessarily to read about in a comic.

It’s filler.

CREDITS

We Gotta Go Now, Part Five; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Darick Robertson; colorist, Tony Avina; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

There have been insightful parodies of Superman and Batman before–Ennis has done them in The Boys–but his take on Professor X is something unexpected. This whole “G-Men” arc is unexpected, but Ennis has an observation about Professor G I didn’t see coming. X-Men keep resurrecting because Professor X is a nut. Obviously, that observation isn’t accurate (comic publishing realities), but it does say something about the end product.

Besides that moment–and some amusing stuff at the G-Mansion where Ennis gets to make fun of the X-Men a little–there’s not much to Hughie’s plot in this issue. Sure, it’s funny, but Ennis’s subplot with Mother’s Milk investigating is much better.

The Frenchman and the Female both get some page time, but neither has anything to do. Butcher’s barely around, but his moment’s a funny one.

It’s okay. Robertson’s a little lazy. It’s fine.

CREDITS

We Gotta Go Now, Part Three; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Darick Robertson; colorist, Tony Avina; letterer, Simon Bowland; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

At first, I was going to concentrate on Ennis using Animal House as the model for his X-Men teenage team knock-off. I haven’t read a teen X-Men book in a while, but I can’t believe Marvel would ever have the stones to do it so honestly. The knockoff scenes are funny enough (and very self-aware), but Ennis uses them to lead into Hughie and Annie’s romance subplot.

But then I realized this issue of The Boys might be the first where Ennis evenly distributes time between the cast. Hughie’s undercover, Butcher is hanging out with the Legend (they’re talking in foreshadowing), Mother’s Milk is investigating, the Frenchman and the Female are playing board games… It’s a very full issue.

Ennis doesn’t end on any kind of a cliffhanger, which leaves the finish dry, but it’s a solid issue. M.M.’s investigation is probably the best thing.

CREDITS

We Gotta Go Now, Part Two; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Darick Robertson; colorist, Tony Avina; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

Well, Ennis gets to ripping on Marvel and, wow, does it ever go well for him. He goes for the X-Men, which I didn’t expect. There’s a lot about their popularity and the number of teams and so on. It’s all quite well-done.

There’s a definite change in tone (from DC to Marvel)–the Boys have a different kind of target. It’s nice Ennis is able to toggle between the two companies. I hadn’t expected him to cover the X-Men at all, much less so deftly.

There are a couple good subplot starts–these scenes are the issue’s more seriously–but the last page is simply amazing and makes one forget about everything else. Ennis goes for a big laugh and gets it; the rest of the issue just has smiles. Maybe he was building up.

Robertson’s art’s good. He gets to do both funny and gross.

CREDITS

We Gotta Go Now, Part One; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Darick Robertson; colorist, Tony Avina; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

The Boys has been gross, it’s been mean, it’s been disturbing, but Ennis is at his most relentlessly depressing here. The superhero team tries to stop the last plane on 9/11 to disastrous results. There’s not even humor to the “funny” parts, because it’s just too much.

Ennis apparently set out to make an event worse than the actual one.

Robertson does well on the art. There’s implied conflict for the Wonder Woman analog and most of it comes from the art.

Ennis–possibly unintentionally–moves the series into a new position. Before, it was funny (clean or dirty) send-ups of familiar–DC–superheroes. But after this issue, featuring the incredible actions of the superhero team… it’s a condemnation of the genre. But a measured one, I suppose. The superheroes get their powers “realistically,” which might be an out. It’s a qualified condemnation.

It’s a bloody disturbing issue.

CREDITS

I Tell You No Lie, G.I., Part Three; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Darick Robertson; colorist, Tony Avina; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.